Keegan was not the girl she had been when they sat down on the bench moments ago, there was something that had inexplicably changed in her, she knew that. Hearing about his life, placing his memories side by side with her own had changed her perspective on everything, she thought her parents boring, he would see them as reliable and always there for her. She saw her life as repetitive, the same thing every day yet Noah had to actively look for jobs whilst the only work she did was at school. Her perspective on absolutely everything was changing.

She couldn't even begin to imagine how it would feel to think of yourself as a mistake. Her heart ached for him, but also for his Mother, she was in no place to judge the nightmare the woman had been through, but she knew for sure putting those feelings onto her young son, inflicting him with that knowledge could possibly have ended his life today. A few strands of Keegan's hair had escaped her ponytail, and she angrily pushed them aside, they were an inconvenience right now. Keegan turned towards Noah so that he would have absolutely no choice but to meet her eye.

"Thank you for telling me all of that, I know it must have been really hard for you."

He grimaced.

"Truth be told nobody has ever asked me the reasons why I went to a school counsellor for a bit who was more interested in ticking off her boxes and getting me out of her office as soon as possible rather than trying to help me. And I should probably be thanking you."

Keegan shook her head emphatically.

"There's really no need, I'm just doing whatever small things I can and I feel like I've acted out, my life isn't bad by any stretch of the word. Sometimes you can think your situation is the worst, but then you hear about someone else's struggles, which puts your own into perspective..." she trailed off because Noah was shaking his head at her, he looked angry.

"Don't underestimate the scale of your own problems just because you now know mine, and for the record you seem to talk an awful lot about being boring when all I've seen of you today points to the contrary, maybe your so caught up in being one thing you don't see yourself for who you are."

She was meant to be the one doing this, advising him on how to improve his life, yet hall of his words had a ring of truth to them, maybe being boring and coming from a family who didn't achieve incredible things through their personality. Maybe it was her defence mechanism.

"Forget me, you tried that angle before and it ended up with us running away from a hospital. So you've presented me with these problems and the only way for me to be of use is to try and give you solutions for them. Just think about it like this, you've lived for seventeen years so far, seventeen. The average life expectancy is usually eighty or even higher now, your going to take the chance that you might be letting something amazing slip out of your fingers. And by the way, overdosing on painkillers in a public park was quite sloppy leading me to believe that you don't want to do this."

"I really did want to do it this morning." he sighed. "And I wasn't planning on staying in this park, I was going to walk along the embankment until I got to the forest behind, I guess some jogger would have found me and that would have made the morning news, they'd probably lie and say I had some promising future, and go on about how tragic it all was." Noah finally exhaled and then said in a smaller voice.

"I feel like if only I could get rid of this damned face, rip it off in one swift move then I would somehow stand some kind of chance, I've always been hated for the face I carry but what my Mother doesn't know is that nobody, not even her could hate me more than myself." he was shaking and for the first time Keegan saw everything clearly, he wasn't blessed because of his looks. They were a combination of two people who had wronged him, one person before he was even born.

She was back to feeling cold to the very core. Living in a world like this, she didn't know whether she'd ever be able to go back to trusting other people after this, which was ironic as she sat next to a stranger, her heart dully thudding trying to come up with something moving, something he would tell future generations all about. The girl who had come into his life and saved it as if it had been all in a day's work for her.

"I think if an adult had read your napkin, you might be better off right now in this situation, your Mum was wrong Noah, a horrific thing happened to her but that doesn't define who you are, you didn't ask for anything. All I see when I look at you is someone who doesn't realise there own worth, a candle that burns bright and really shouldn't be extinguished. Hating yourself won't be doing anything but letting him win."

It struck her at that very moment, she had read all those mystery novels and it certainly hadn't been for no reason.

"I know what we need to do..." she said slowly.

It was crazy, an absolutely crazy idea... yet.

"Noah!" she said almost frantically. 

"What if we found him... they've probably closed the case by now because that's just how the police work, this man ruined your Mum's life and then he ruined yours and your'e telling me he should be able to walk free and live his life day after day without facing consequences, because to me there is absolutely no justice in that."

Slowly, Keegan turned to him.

Noah shook his head.